International news

DOJ to charge 5 in Chinese army with hacking U.S. firms

First public cybercrime charges against employees of foreign state

By

DevlinBarrett

The Justice Department plans to announce charges against individuals in the Chinese military, accusing them of hacking U.S. companies for trade secrets, the first time the U.S. government has publicly accused employees of a foreign power with cybercrimes against American firms, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move to charge five individuals who allegedly worked for the People’s Liberation Army to hack into U.S. company systems marks a major escalation of the fight with China over such intrusions. U.S. government officials have long complained that China aggressively targets U.S. companies for trade secrets that would give Chinese companies a competitive advantage--a charge China has denied, saying such accusations have no basis in fact.

Attorney General Eric Holder and senior Federal Bureau of Investigation officials plan to announce the charges Monday morning, these people said.

The charges are to be filed against five people who allegedly worked for a part of the People’s Liberation Army known as Unit 61398 in Shanghai, these people said. The hackers allegedly stole some of the design information for a nuclear power plant, as well as cost and pricing information from a solar panel firm, these people said.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.